H7 Low Beam Replacement Intervals

[TexanRT]

Do you replace your low beams at specific intervals or wait until they burn out? I was going to replace my low beams before my recent trip but didn't get to it -- naturally, they both burned out while on the road. I got 20,000 miles out of these -- is that about right for an R12RT?

[PGlaves]

Do you replace your low beams at specific intervals or wait until they burn out? I was going to replace my low beams before my recent trip but didn't get to it -- naturally, they both burned out while on the road. I got 20,000 miles out of these -- is that about right for an R12RT?

I like to relamp my bikes every couple of years, at least but it varies a little bit by bike. I can change the bulb in my R1150R in about 2 minutes and it requires no fumbling in dark and hidden places. So on it I'm a little more tolerant of an on-road failure.

On our K75s and Voni's R1100RS and R1100S changing bulbs seems to require finding a small child with small hands, or lying on my back in the mud, or removing plastic pieces, or losing little metal clips, or other similar complications. Thus, I tend to change those at home, in the shop, before they fail.

I just looked at some specs and most of the Halogen headlight bulbs, H1, H4, H7, etc seemed to claim anywhere between 225 and 400 hours so if you average 50 mph you start getting on borrowed time at 20,000 miles, if not sooner - and most of us don't average 50 for the overall lights-on time. I found a couple that claimed 600 hours and one that claimed 1,000 hours but those are not the common bulbs found most places.

[wezul]

Ha, my '07 RT just fried a low beam this morning!
A little over 12K.
I'll have to limp along on one bulb this weekend.

[cookie]

08RT Lost two lamps @ 8500 miles a little over a year old. Good question I think I should replace them once a year. I can buy them wholesale for Sylvania $6.83 each.

[mistercindy]

I replace them when they burn out. I like the Osram 65w H7 bulbs (an H9 bulb on an H7 base) so I've bought four of them. I'll take an extra on a long trip, but if it burns out on my normal commute I'll just wait until I get home.

[Talmadge_W]

My '08 GS just burned out the low beam at 7000. When I was riding to the shop to renew my state inspection sticker! Not sure if that counts as good timing or bad but the Tech replaced it in the parking lot at no charge before writing the inpection so guess it's all good.

Talmadge

[DrSteve]

Got 18 K and they both went within a week of each other.

[RobStar]

I lost a PIAA H7 low-beam last weekend in Cedar City after only 4000 miles, luckily I kept the original bulb as a replacement and had it packed in foam wrap in a big amber prescription bottle.

I called PIAA and pretty much no questions asked they replaced it and all I had to do was send a copy of the purchase receipt. They have a year warranty.

RobStar

[bikerfish1100]

not gloating at all (it would be bad karma to do so, and would result in near instantaneous loss of all lights on all my bikes, so i an't doin' it. i'm just sayin.)- but i switched to HIDs on my R11S, and have jsts under 60K on them,. have replaced absolutely nothing on them.,and they give ree-DICK-ulous amounts of light. now, there is pretty much no such thing as "darkness". me likey. :dance

[MPMARTY]

Ditto on the HIDs. My 06 RT has them on the low beams and from what I understand they may well last "forever" as there is no filament in them to burn out.

[TexanRT]

Thanks for all the comments. I decided to remove the headlight nacelle so I could replace my lamps and see clearly how everything fits together -- I've had the plastic off a couple of times now and it's no longer a big deal. Now that I've seen everything up close, I think I'll have a better chance at changing lamps out on the road. I've noted the date and mileage of the change and will probably change lamps at specific intervals depending upon my mileage.

Are there any lamp reviews or comparisons on the internet? I've been looking for documentation on lamp hours/life and haven't found much.

[rbertalotto]

Go HID and fagedaboutit...........

http://www.rvbprecision.com/motorcycles/hid-headlights-for-your-bmw-motorcycle.html

[wezul]

Go HID and fagedaboutit...........

Going to do that. Found HID's on Ebay for 12 bucks shipping included.

[rbertalotto]

I just saw this on ebay.I know nothing about them, just passing it along.......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/H4-Bi-Xenon-HID-HeadLight-00-01-2008-BMW-R1150R-R1150RS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14 QQhashZitem2a00d22557QQitemZ180402398551QQptZMotor sQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[wezul]

I thought HID's need ballasts.
What the heck did I buy? :doh

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170384619783&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AEOIBSA%3AUS%3A1123

[119240]

If ya read the fine print - it says comes with a box of matches as the ballast :D

[wezul]

Thanks I feel so much better. :D :lol

[PGlaves]

I thought HID's need ballasts.
What the heck did I buy? :doh

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170384619783&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AEOIBSA%3AUS%3A1123

You bought Halogen bulbs with a small trace of Xenon gas which does nothing. They are also coated blue so they look cool, but put out fewer lumens of light than real Halogen bulbs.

In other words - poor bulbs. Sorry!

[wezul]

You bought Halogen bulbs with a small trace of Xenon gas which does nothing. They are also coated blue so they look cool, but put out fewer lumens of light than real Halogen bulbs.

In other words - poor bulbs. Sorry!

HaHaHa HA!
Well now. Next time you see me Paul give me a good smack across face and tell me to wake up!

[marchyman]

Standard H7 Halogen with a blue coating to look cool. Oh, they likely put out less light than stock because of the blue coating.

See http://members.misty.com/don/xeincand.html where it says:

Some "xenon" automotive headlight bulbs are halogens with a xenon gas fill as opposed to krypton or argon. Some of these merely have a blue tint added to the glass or in a coating on the glass and have nothing to do with xenon except for producing light with a more xenon-like color! The true xenon car headlight bulbs are very expensive and require expensive ballasts and do not have filaments but contain an electric arc. Furthermore, these are not so much xenon lamps as they are metal halide lamps. They do contain xenon which is useful for producing some useful white light output while you are waiting for the metal halide ingredients and the mercury in these bulbs to vaporize as the bulb warms up.

[wezul]

Thanks folks, stupid me.
Live and learn, hopefully!

I thought the price was too good to be true.

Disgrace and shame.

They will go on the shelf next to the deed for the Brooklyn Bridge.

[MPMARTY]

I thought HID's need ballasts.
What the heck did I buy?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...SA%3AUS%3A1123
Just plain old bulbs for a really outrageous price.

[wezul]

OK OK.
Everyone line up the flogging commences shortly. :ha

[maxscycle]

My 06 12gs high beam burned out one day, the low beam burned out the next day. Both were replaced under warranty.
max

[rbertalotto]

Unless the ballasts are super miniature, and built in (unlikely).......then there needs to be separate ballasts

[TomfromMD]

OK OK.
Everyone line up the flogging commences shortly. :ha

Don't feel too badly - I'm sure you've helped some others avoid the same misteak!

When I found out that the Xenon assembly for one side of my Z4 cost $800 + $200 for the bulb, I gave up any idea of converting from halogen on my RT.

Tom

[bikerfish1100]

Don't feel too badly - I'm sure you've helped some others avoid the same misteak!

When I found out that the Xenon assembly for one side of my Z4 cost $800 + $200 for the bulb, I gave up any idea of converting from halogen on my RT.

Tom

$800?!?! whoa doggie!
i converted my R11S to HIDs from Polarion (both hi & lo) about 6 years ago. Total cost was right around $400. Price from other reputable suppliers/manufacturers are now waaaay below that. Some smart searching should find something around $200 for both lights.